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| Smart LTE Prepaid SIM (Image Source: Smart Communications) |
According to the results of the said testing, average download speeds of Smart's LTE service in these areas have surged higher than what the telco has expected, as well as those of its 3G coverage. Meanwhile, subscriber data usage has also risen as well with increasing percentage of both 3G and LTE data usage. These improvements are credited to the increasing number of base stations within the said areas and many Smart subscribers in these areas have already experienced these improvements.
The ongoing rollout is part of Smart's commitment to make its LTE service progressively available in 95% of the country's cities and municipalities by mid-2018 which includes the use of the acquired 700 MHz frequency which was made last year. The positive results of Smart's test will boost the efforts of the local telecommunications industry in making internet services in the country faster, more enjoyable and more accessible to mobile and internet users all over the nation.
And according to a research paper made by a UP Professor Emeritus Epictetus Patalinhug, the local telecommunications industry needs to add more investments on network infrastructure as well as improvement of the industry's performance. It is expected that local telcos will continue to improve their network and coverage even after the year 2020 in making their efforts possible.
